This week, the Baltimore County Council voted to pass Bill 37-19, which closes two loopholes that impacted open space requirements in the county. Previously, developers could count parking lot islands and private amenities towards their required open space acreage. Common sense dictates that little patches of grass surrounded by parking lot and private amenities, like rooftop pools, are not public recreational space.

Maryland recently completed a two-year study on the Chesapeake Bay Bridgethat included three recommendations for new crossings. The state is looking at potential bridges between Pasadena and Rock Hall, between Mayo and Easton, and alongside the current spans between Arnold and Kent Island. These sites, along with a "no build" option will be presented at community meetings throughout Maryland.

The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision unleashed a flood. It opened the door to unlimited dark money into our politics. We’ve been dealing with the impacts ever since.

But there is hope for change.

800 cities and towns, and 20 states are calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. That represents 141 million Americans, 46% of the U.S. population. Popular support is overwhleming -- the debate over the idea of overturning Citizens United should be over.

Howard County has a lot of upcoming legislation with hearings scheduled in September. This includes CB38-2019, the Protect This Watershed bill.

Councilwoman Liz Walsh's CB38-2019 is a very big bill that is responding to the problem of waivers in the Patapsco Lower North Branch Watershed. Many laws involving the environment include waivers at the discretion of the overseeing agency, mainly to provide needed flexibility in unforeseen circumstances. When waivers become routine practice, they undermine the effectiveness of that legislation.

People all across Baltimore have been weighing in on the Plastic Bag Reduction Bill - and businesses, too! Diane Wittner, the owner of Echotopia, shared her testimony with us, and we wanted to share it with you. Businesses like Echotopia are already making the switch away from plastic bags, and single-use plastics overall; it's time for all of Baltimore to follow.

One of the best things about working for Clean Water Action is the opportunity to meet and work with so many wonderful people on a variety of issues that protect our water and reduce pollution. A highlight this year was working with students and teachers at the Connecticut River Academy to design and build a rain garden that will reduce stormwater runoff into the Connecticut River.

It’s unfortunate that it took a tragic spill of nearly 40,000 gallons of firefighting foam into the Farmington River for PFAS contamination to finally get some attention in Connecticut. And we’re finally getting some action -- U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal is leading efforts in Washington to assure that firefighting foam containing PFAS chemicals is no longer required by the Department of Defense (DOD). We thank the Senator for his efforts and are proud to join with him to urge strong federal action.